YesMadam's mental health based firing just a PR gimmick, netizens say!

After intense backlash on social media, the at-home beauty service startup issued an apology over a viral email for firing employees just because they were stressed. The apology was followed by the announcement of several schemes to tackle stress at the workspace, but it ended up sounding like the Cervical cancer stunt.

Social media went berserk when the email first went viral, where employees of YesMadam were fired just because they mentioned having stress in an internal survey. The company received a lot of backlash online after releasing a three-page apology, clarifying that no employee was fired. “No one was fired at YesMadam! Let us be clear: We would never take such an inhuman step. Were YesMadam employees fired for being stressed? Not,” the post said. 

The company revealed that the social media post was a PR stunt to raise awareness about the ill effects of workplace stress. The apology post announced a new corporate initiative called ‘Happy 2 Heal’ to tackle the grave issue of stress. YesMadam will be providing its employees with head massages and spa sessions in the workspace to ensure that the employees are well-rested and recharged. 

“We firmly believe that the backbone of any great organisation is not built on stressed shoulders but on happy minds. So, let's make employee well-being the new norm. Let's create businesses that thrive on care, collaboration, and compassion. Over to you, Corporate & Startup India. Let's walk this path together,” they said in their statement. They also announced a new policy called the De-stress Policy, a first for India under which YesMadam will grant six paid de-stress leaves with complimentary spa sessions at their homes, so they can focus on maintaining their mental health. 

However, netizens are disappointed with this, blaming the company for causing even more stress to their employees under this PR stunt. They relate this incident to cervical cancer and death stunt, calling it a lousy PR campaign that is not trying to use Anxiety as their tool.

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